October 20, 2013

Greetings, one and all :)

Well, this week was all over the place. Some days we were running around trying to make it to every appointment on time (i feel like i'm late all the time now, this is new for me), other days we felt like we got nothing done until we came home that night and tallied up our numbers only to see that we actually did.

We have been volunteering with the Department of Conservation here in Westport - planting trees, etc. We met a group of volunteers through this service and they invited us to come help them maintain a tramping track (hiking trail) in Charleston, about 30 minutes south of Westport. It's called the "Bromula Track" and we have heard a lot about it, but didn't have a reason to go see it UNTIL NOW!! It was seriously the most fantastic, exquisite, amazing outdoor experience of my life. One minute we were in a rain forest, the next in a field, the next on the cliff over the ocean, the next in a massive flax forest type thing. The man heading the trip gave my companion and i knives to cut flax (kind of like a grass, but really tough - they weave it into baskets, etc) away from the track so it's easier to walk through. The other volunteers had machetes and whacked at different parts of the trail, removing invasive plants and other plants that were in the way. THIS is what i imagined my mission to be like haha! It was seriously the most amazing outdoor thing I've ever done, I think. (The first photo is me standing next to some flax. And don't worry, we didn't have to swim to that rock in the last photo haha) 

I know that the message of the Restoration is something that every single person needs. And that the truths that we have because of this glorious event are something that every single person needs and, on some level, wants. We had our first lesson with a family this week, and the mother was brave enough to say the closing prayer. The room was so noisy and loud, and her daughter got up do something straight after. However, the mom sat there at the table with us and started getting choked up. In the midst of the loud, distracting noise, she felt God tell her that He loves her. She told us she was angry at him for a long time, but it was time to finally let go of all those things. I know that Gods WILL reach out to us if we let him. All we need is a willing heart, a humble attitude, and a desire to grow closer to him. 

Having the Spirit constantly work through you is the coolest thing ever. We were on the street yesterday and saw a man. We said, "Hello!" and he said, "Hello!" From that one word, the Spirit prompted me to ask, "Do you know Peter?" He said, "Yes, i live with Peter!" Peter is a man that came to church 2 weeks ago that we met on the street. We said, "Peter came to our church a few weeks ago, and said he was going to come again. Will you come to church with him?" He said yes, and ran off. Um how cool is that? Really cool!

love you all! May the Lord be with yous!

Sister Rose